Our
thanks to Doris from Sixteen Acres who has shared a treasure trove of cake
recipes, all from this column, and, it goes without saying, all tried and true.

I
agree with Doris that this first recipe, Hershey's Black Magic Cake, makes an
outstanding chocolate cake. Quick and easy to make, this cake always turns out
well. It was the requested birthday cake for many years in my house. Come to
think of it, I still get requests even though the children are grown and live
far away.

Although
the recipe doesn't say it, we can make this cake with regular unsoured 2% milk.
I think this recipe debuted in 1934.

Frosting
for this cake? Our favorite is good. A butter mocha will compliment the moist
chocolate which has been made with a cup of strong black coffee. Or, a light
dusting of sifted confectioners' sugar spread evenly over the top will do the
trick, too.

Chocolate
zucchini cake you say? Why not! This is a truly wonderful chocolate cake. And,
like the Hershey's Black Magic, any favorite frosting will do, including a
light sprinkling of sifted confectioners' sugar.

Sift
the already sifted flour with the cocoa, baking soda, salt together into a
large bowl. Set aside.

Beat
the sugar, butter, and oil in a second large bowl. Blend well. Add eggs, one at
a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. Mix into dry ingredients
alternately with the soured milk. Mix in grated zucchini. Pour batter into
prepared pan and bake in oven 40-50 minutes, until tester inserted into center
comes out clean. Cool baked cake completely in pan.

Only say the word, or really three words, Red
Velvet Cake. Then, sit back and listen. There are more tales than there are
recipes for this very North American creation. Many Canadians remain certain
that the recipe originated with Lady Flora McCrea Eaton, the matriarch of
Eaton's Department Stores, where red velvet cake was the signature dish of
their tea rooms throughout Canada. Others credit a chef at the Waldorf Astoria
in New York City as the creator. Still
others insist that the groom's cake, a red velvet cake in the shape of an
armadillo, in the 1989 movie, Steel
Magnolias, is proof that this cake hails from south of the Mason-Dixon
line. Regardless of our allegiance, we
all can agree that red velvet cake is the perfect Valentine's Day cake. May
shares Stephanie Jaworski's version with us today. May writes that good quality
Dutch processed cocoa powder is an absolute to make this an outstanding cake.

One tablespoon distilled white vinegar or one
tablespoon cider vinegar or 1 tablespoon lemon juice mixed into 1 cup milk
substitutes well for the 1 cup buttermilk in this cake. If we do this, we
should let our mixture stand for 10 minutes before incorporating into our cake.

By wrapping the cooled cake layers and either
placing them in the freezer for an hour or refrigerating them for a couple of
hours, we make it easy to give our cake a smooth and attractive icing. May
writes that she now follows this advice for all her frosted cakes.

Stephanie's Red Velvet Cake from May

2 ½ cups sifted cake flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

8 ounces Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Sweetened or unsweetened coconut for garnish,
optional

For the Cake: Preheat
oven to 350 degrees; place rack in center of oven. Butter two 9 inch round cake
pans. Line bottoms of each with parchment paper. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, salt and cocoa powder
in a bowl. Set aside.

Beat the butter until soft, 1-2 minutes with
an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Scrape down the
sides of bowl. Add vanilla and beat until well combined.

Whisk the buttermilk with the red food
coloring.

With the electric mixer on low speed
alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the butter
mixture in three additions. Begin and end with the flour mixture.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and the
baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into batter.

Work quickly to divide the batter evenly
between the two prepared pans. Smooth tops of batter. Bake in preheated oven,
20-25 minutes or until toothpick, inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool
the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Lift cakes from pan and
cool completely. Wrap each layer in
plastic wrap and place in freezer for at least one hour to facilitate icing the
assembled cake.

For the Frosting: In the
food processor or with a hand mixer, process the cream cheese and mascarpone
cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners' sugar; process until
smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Whip the whipping cream with an electric
mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold small amounts of the whipped cream into the
cream cheese mixture until the frosting reaches the proper consistency to
spread. If spread ability remains an issue, cover bowl and refrigerate for an
hour or so until mixture is firm enough to spread.

To assemble:
Cut each of the two layers in half horizontally to make four layers.
Place the first layer, top side facing down, onto serving platter, Spread a
layer of frosting on top. Place the second layer on top of frosting. Repeat and
stack for all four layers. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Garnish top and
sides with sweetened or unsweetened coconut. Makes one 9 inch four layer cake.

May sends along her trusty, oh-so-easy, cream
cheese frosting just in case. Coconut can be sprinkled over this frosting as
well.

Beat all ingredients together until light and
of spreading consistency. Frosts a 4 layer cake.

Maybe
we're more in the mood for Polly Philpott's Macaroon Cake. Easy to prepare and very special were Mrs.
Jots' words for Polly's cake. One of the nice things about this cake? It's
frosted before the baking, a real one step dessert.

Beat
the egg whites until stiff, adding the sugar gradually while beating. Add salt
and fold in coconut. Spread on cake batter before baking. Bake in preheated 350
degree oven for 30-35 minutes, even though, Polly's cake would bake in her oven
at 25 minutes!

Betsy's
Peach Pound Cake

3
cups flour

¾
teaspoon salt

¼
teaspoon baking soda

2
cups chopped peeled peaches

½
cup sour cream

3
cups sugar

1
cup butter, softened

6
eggs

1
teaspoon vanilla extract

1
teaspoon almond extract

Mix
the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.

Combine
the peaches and sour cream in a bowl. Mix well. Set aside.

Cream
the sugar and butter in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl
occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add
the dry ingredients alternately with the peach mixture. Begin and end with dry
ingredients. Beat well after each addition. Stir in the extracts. Spoon into
greased and floured 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 75-80 minutes or
until the cake tests done. Yields 16 servings.

Speaking
of Brussels Sprouts, last week's topic, a few Readers would love Latitude's
recipe.